Obvious
by xBildenxSiexLachelnx
Summary: Rinza has a slightly troubled past. Firebending and Mechanics are only pieces of it. Let's just say that being one in the Earth Kingdom is difficult. Especially when she joins the Avatar Gaang in their conquest to the North Pole. SokkaxOC
1. Omashu

**Obvious**

Chapter 1: Omashu

* * *

I sighed loudly as I ran towards the gates of Omashu, the only big city that I would go to. I just didn't like leaving the coasts, because when I did it made me feel like I was missing something. Though, for some reason, here in Omashu I don't feel that way. I smiled as I got to the guards and lifted up my wrench, smiling cheekily. They nodded and Earthbended the gates open for me. I once again nodded in thanks and hurried in.

* * *

I was in need of not only some good food, but a coil that I can't find on the ports. I spotted the man with the cabbages that he obsessed over and walked to him. Sure, he was pretty crazy, but he knew where things were and his cabbages weren't half bad. I waved to him,"Hey there, mister cabbage. I'll have one please."

He nodded and handed me one, taking the two copper pieces I gave him.

"Would you happen to know where Mr. Mishi may have moved to?"

He pointed down the main road,"Walk down there and take a left at the mail buidling. The last I heard he was in a new shop down there."

I nodded and bit into a piece of the cabbage I now had, walking in the direction he pointed.

I wasn't exactly in the middle of the action, but I wasn't secluded from it like a lot of people. Truthfully, I wish that I could live in a town with a mad scientist. They have a lot of neat inventions, that's for sure. Of course, that wasn't my life. Besides, I couldn't really have one in this country because of my born gift.

I took a left at the mail building and smiled,"Ahh, Mr. Mishi!"

I began to run to the man outside of his shop, sweeping. He always had what I needed and he was always glad to give me a great discount. He waved to me and put his broom up,"Hello, Rinza. What might you need today?"

"Do you have steel coils?"

He laughed and patted my back, leading me into the store,"Do I have steel coils? I'll need a better description than that."

* * *

I picked up a slightly coiled one,"This is kind of like what I nee-"

**CRASH**

_**SHATTER**_

_**POP**_

[1]

I flinched with Mr. Mishi and looked up to the ceiling increduously,"What happened up there?"

Mr. Mishi put a hand on his chin and shrugged,"I have no idea. We should find out later though if it was very bad. But, anyways- if you want something with a little more turn there is this."

He pulled up a coil a lot like the one I had and I lit up, ecstatic,"That's it!"

He laughed as I dug out the money to pay him. He turned to the counter and picked up a box of bits. I looked at him as I fished out the silver piece,"What's that?"

"Well, you may not be sharing with me what kind of contraption yer makin', but these bits are always helpful."

I snickered and took them,"Thank you very much Mr. Mishi, I'll be seeing you around!"

He waved back,"See you another time, Rinza."

* * *

I yawned and stretched up in the small bed I was occupying. I had decided to stay in Omashu for the night since it was a while before I would be back at the Coast. I made my way off of the bed and noticed how light it was out. I sighed and slid into my clunky shoes.

After tying them up I picked up the small pack I had for the things I had gotten and made my way out of the room. I had stayed with Mrs. Pebble[2]. Yea, clever name, right? She welcomed me in ever since I saved her dog from running away. I quietly went down her steps and reached out for the door, but was caught.

"Rinza, don't you want lunch, dearie?" Mrs. Pebbles asked me. She was a big woman, but that made her, her.

I shook my head and opened the door,"No thank you, Mrs. Pebbles. I need to get going- I'll see you another time!"

I stretched my arms out again in the warm air and noticed the mail chutes. I smirked, maybe I could give the surfing thing another go[3]. I had been since I first came to Omashu, and man was it fun. I climbed up to the beginning of the chutes and positioned myself to jump off. When one started to come by, I jumped on and laughed,"WOOHOO!"

* * *

"Excuse me, King." The Earth soldier to my left said, holding my arm and wrench.

I growled slightly, but whatever. This always happened.

"What is it?" The old King said, maybe kind of angry that he was being interrupted since he had guests. There was a water tribe girl, a monkey-wing-thing, a boy with an arrow on his head that I will assume is the Avatar, and a really cute water tribe boy. Of course, this isn't the time to oggle.

The man on my right yanked my arm forward a bit,"This girl was found Surfing on the Mail Carts... Again."

I glared up to them,"Oh, come on! I didn't do any damage to anything, besides I was just fitting it in before I left!"

The two ignored me and we all looked to the King guy. He waved his hand,"Let her go, she was leaving, wasn't she?"

I smirked as the two let me go and the one on my left handed my wrench back to me. I yanked it out of his hand and bowed to the king,"Thank you."

He nodded and looked back to the three in front of him. I looked up to see the water tribe boy looking at me. I smiled lightly and waved.

He blushed and walked over. I wasn't too experienced with this, hopefully he would make more of a fool of himself[4].

"Name's Sokka."

I smiled again,"Rinza."

"That's a pretty name." He said, trying to give me a wink.

I snickered and heard someone behind him yell,"Sokka, stop it!"

A bit of water hit him on the face and got onto me. I looked up to see the girl was the culprit. She was from the water tribe, too. She was different though... I couldn't let her look into my eyes- who knows what kind of resentment to my stupid nation she has. I bowed quickly,"It was nice to meet you Sokka, but I need to get going."

With that I hurriedly turned and ran down the corridor. I just have this thing with waterbenders, a lot of them can be quite violent when they find out about firebenders[5].

* * *

[1] This was when Aang, Katara, and Sokka crashed through that guy's house when they went out of control on the carts.

[2] I noticed that a lot of the minor Avatar characters have these simple names.

[3] It's kind of like riding in the mail carts, but on top of them :D

[4] Why wouldn't he? It is Sokka :]

[5] Just with the whole Water vs Fire thing and the fact that the fire nation is taking over the world.

These are the profiles of the two people in this story:

Rinza[Ree-en-zah]

16

Light Black Hair

-Tied into a low ponytail with a yellow scrunchie

-Covered on the top with a turquoise bandana

•Bandana has a small wrench design on the corner

Dark Golden Eyes

Ghostly Pale Skin

-Nose Piercing

•Rounds into nostril

-One ear pierced

•Silver with one red ruby in it

Turquoise Halter Top

-Puffy, yellow, off-the-shoulder short sleeves

Baggy, black pants with small stains

Dark Gray jacket tied around the waist

Thick, black shoes

Skilled Mechanic and Firebender

She has a resentment for her brother.

She is noted as a traitor to the Fire Nation

She fights when she has to by firebending and uses her wrench if needed.

She always has her wrench with her.

Azolin

17

Light Black Hair

-Grown out quite a bit

Dark Golden Eyes

Slightly Tanned Skin

-Septum pierced

Dark Red form-fitting long-sleeve top

Black, button up no-sleeve Tunic over top

Thick belt with gasoline in them

Dark Red and Brown pants

Gold Fire Nation Shoes

White Gloves

Assassin and Firebender

He was revered as a hero since he tried to fend off Rinza.

He got out of being pulled into the Army by becoming an Assassin and eventually putting himself onto the constant Rinza-Mission.

I was originally going to let out a lot more of their past, but I decided against it since I could make some filling chapters and confusion XD.

This story will probably take a million years to complete because of my wanting to do other things- so don't expect updates very often, but if I get into a mood for it than I'll be shooting them out like a... um... I was trying to make a reference there. XD.

How about like Zutara v.s. Kataang arguements? I enjoy those... Use your imagination that it was a witty statement xD.

~Tai.


	2. Azolin's Mission

**Obvious**

Chapter 2: Azolin's Mission

* * *

"Prince Zuko, there is someone here for you to see." Iroh, the former great general of the Fire Nation, said to his nephew.

Said Prince looked back to his Uncle angrily,"I don't want to see anyone!"

His Uncle looked to him,"Come now, he is asking you a favor."

A deep voice spoke from behind a light colored mask as a figure stepped out of the shadows,"Yea, right, a favor of the sorts."

The angry prince shot fire out at the newcomer, who just shot his arm through it, making it dissipate,"Hear me out now."

The ash-haired boy growled,"What do you want?"

The newcomer slid his mask back and revealed his face,"I'm gonna need your help capturing someone."

"So, who is it?" Prince Zuko said, questioning the boy that was in front of him. He knew that his name was Azolin. He was a famous Assassin, or something of the sorts.

Azolin moved his hair out of his face and sipped some tea out of the cup he was given. He swallowed it and pulled out a small scroll,"My sister, Rinza."

"Your sister?" The Prince asked as he opened up the scroll to see a tall girl about his age with Fire Nation features.

Azolin resituated and nodded,"Killed our parents about a year after she became a traitor to our nation. I've been tracking her for a while. She should be on the coasts around here."

"Why do you need my help?" Zuko asked the Assassin, narrowing his golden eyes.

The boy across from him shrugged,"I noticed that you were in the area and decided that you could help me get her into custody. She wouldn't see it coming."

* * *

I stared out into the ocean from my spot on the coast. I breathed in the air deeply and thought on the past few hours. I had arrived back from Omashu after a day and a half of walking. I had fit the coil into my machine, and now I was enjoying the costal air with the machine inside my pack on the tree's roots.

I released all of the air in my lungs and turned away from the Ocean side to return back to my small shack-home thing. I sniffed the air and jumped up onto the branch above me, looking back to see someone that I didn't want to. I growled and turned,"Azolin."

* * *

Prince Zuko watched as Azolin lifted back his mask and smirked up to his sister in the trees. Zuko had recognized her immeaditely as the girl from the wanted poster. He was slightly shocked that a skilled assassin like Azolin couldn't catch his own sister.

"Hey, sis."

The girl in the tree jumped up into the branches, Azolin hurrying after her.

Rinza jumped from the top and flipped down to the ground slowly. She looked up and kicked into the air as Azolin was coming down. A bright, splotchy-colored fire shot from her foot and nearly engulfed her brother. He managed to avoid the flames and punched fire at her stance.

She jumped up and shot a long stream at Azolin. The siblings went at it for a while, both becoming slightly worn out. Azolin smirked as Rinza jumped back onto the branch she had first been on,"You can't keep this going, Rinza- you know as well as I do that it stops here."

The girl grunted and jumped into the air over Azolin. Said boy jumped back and glanced to Prince Zuko.

The Prince nodded and got into the cover of the trees. He watched as Rinza came down, her fists glowing. She hit the ground in a kneel and punched the ground hard. Just as fire concentrated into the crevices of the Earth[1] the Prince shot a large fireball into her back and kicked her down.

* * *

I gasped and hit a tree hard. I looked up, trying to regain my composure. I saw someone in my vision, but he was doubled. They sported Fire Nation Armor and had a burn over their left eye. My brother walked up next to the person and nodded, right before he kicked me in the chest.

* * *

I groaned, trying to move my hand onto my forehead. I heard a clinking and looked around in horror. I was shackled to the wall. I growled lightly, this was not good.

"Hey, she's awake."

I looked up to see a soldier looking on from outside of the prison gate. I growled deeply again, if only I was able to breath fire out like I had been training to do. The man walked away, yelling to another soldier as he went.

I sighed and let my arms fall. My legs were shackled into the wall completely and I had very little movement in my arms, no way was I bending out of this right now.

"Aw, look at the poor, little Rinza- all shackled up."

I looked up to the voice that spoke and growled loudly at seeing my brother,"You piece of shit! Let me out of here, jackass!"

He tapped the bars with his knuckles as he watched me steam, literally.

"Ah, ah, ah. You've got a trial to face, than an execution. I would have loved to kill you on the spot, but Fire Lord Ozai and his council want a piece of you first. Ta-ta now."

As he walked off I looked down. I was going to be put in front of the Fire Lord. This couldn't get worse. I felt a tear fall down my cheek, with it's companion soon trickling from my other eye. What did I do to deserve this?

* * *

"I can trust that you won't end up losing her while I go to fetch my ship escort?" Azolin asked the Former Fire Prince while fixing his clothing.

The boy nodded.

Azolin snickered as he got ready to run off,"Oh, right, it's not like she's the Avatar or something[2]."

Zuko yelled in anger as the Assassin left his ship.

* * *

I lightly breathed in the musty air of the ship. I was guessing that we were still docked, they might make me change ships. That would be my escape time. But, Azolin would be waiting. I guess that I'll have to figure something out.

I breathed in deeply again and breathed out small bits of smoke, feeling the heat. That was it!

I clenched my fists so that the heat would concentrate. My skin slowly became hotter and hotter, turning redder with each second. I glanced to my left to see the metal getting hotter. I smirked and continued.

As I felt the iron burn my skin a little I smashed my wrists back into the wall and than pulled them forward quickly. The shackles flew off with a large bang and fell to the floor. I kneeled down and caught my breath quickly, I wouldn't have much time.

I fooled with the chains on my legs and got one off. I went to get the other off, but I heard a voice.

"What's going on down here?"

I gasped lightly and yanked my foot as hard as I could, but it didn't work. I growled and shot fire at the end of it, getting the chain off of the wall. I faced the bars and firebended them away. I jumped into the hall to meet a soldier. I glared at him, getting into a stance.

He turned around and ran away with his tail between his legs. Pathetic.

I didn't let myself get stalled and I shot off down the hall after him, he would lead me to the exit. Did he lead me to the exit? Yeah, he did; But he led me right into an old man.

I stopped right in front of him, breathing heavy. He was an old man from the Fire Nation, but he wasn't the least bit familiar. He stepped to his left and allowed me to go through. I nodded in thanks and ran, the chain that was still on my leg clanking away.

I smiled in triumph as I reached the deck, proving that my suspiscions about the ship being docked were true.

"How did you get out?" An angry voice yelled at me.

I turned to meet the face of a boy. He was clad in the Fire Nation Army, and he was the boy who had helped Azolin capture me. I chuckled,"You have some really bad guards."

He yelled out and spun a kick at me. I jumped to the side and felt the chain on my ankle snap off. I smiled and flipped off of my palms and onto the ship's side. I smirked and looked to my free ankle,"Thanks, whoever you are. Hope we don't meet again."

I jumped off of the ship's side and ran into the forest. First, find my bag. Second, cover as much ground as possible.

"UGH!"

* * *

I collapsed into the small pallet I had made from twigs and leaves. It wasn't much, but it was comfy nonetheless. There wasn't much to do now that I was on the run from my brother once again. I couldn't trust the coasts anymore.

I sighed and rolled onto my back, looking at the sky. It was chilly on this evening, but it was inviting at the same time. I sat up and looked around, trying to find something to make a fire with. I moved my pack away from the area I decided to make my fire and got ready to look around.

After a bit of searching I found a few rocks and a lot of sticks. I set up and slowly lit the things I had gathered. I sat back onto my pallet and stared into the flames, thinking.

_My parents always told me that I had begun firebending after a few weeks in the world. I had lit a small part of a nursery on fire with the new power that I found so enticing. They were proud._

_ My brother Azolin and I were very close siblings and friends. He had begun firebending at the age of six. Needless to day, our parents were thrilled with having two firebending children at such young ages. We were always a happy family. We ate together, played games, and even tried a family "band"._

_ My father, Kurzon, worked for the Fire Nation as a scout and a mapper. He was frequently called in for work, but it wasn't bad. My mother, Ila, had a brother who was in the Arching section of the Fire Nation Army. He worked at some high security fortress. I always thought that that would have been a great job._

_ My brother wanted to be a bum, well- that was what my father said it was. Azolin wanted to travel and be laid back with no problems. It was understandable in the times we lived in. He always told me that I would be a great forest person. He even said that one day we would travel to the great Rainforests of the North._

_ I never exactly knew what I wanted to do in life. One day I wanted to be a fisherman, the next was a steelman, another would be a nobleman's wife, and sometimes I would go along with my brother's plan for life. I never knew what I wanted. I think I might have found a calling to mechanics whenever we came to the Earth Kingdom, because before that I had no idea what I wanted from life. Even now, I still don't know._

The ground suddenly shook violently and I shot my head in every direction, halting my thoughts. Whatever was going on wasn't good. I tried to stand, but I was sent back into the earth. I covered my head and waited for the shaking to end.

When it finally did I stood up, feeling my body twitch uncomfortably. I looked around to see trees that had fallen. I gripped my pack close as I stepped towards the destruction near me, but stopped as I felt a warm breath on me. I looked straight up in front of me to see a large beast slowly solidizing[3]. It growled down at my face and I let out a blood curdling scream.

* * *

I have edited pictures of Rinza and Azolin. The links are here:

Rinza: tinypic[dot]com/r/120nsrn/7 & tinypic[dot]com/r/1q1vue/7

Azolin: tinypic[dot]com/r/2f07r6v/7

[1] This is a move she is working on.

[2] Woo! Jab at Season 1 Zuko's Pride!

[3] Winter Solstice[it was the winter one in the first season... right? ._.]

Thank you to:

**ZzBlack NightzZ (and Snuggi): **[Really? I've been obsessed with it. Thanks for the compliment :D. That's how I learn about a lot of animes. I read a fanfiction about one and suddenly I know all about it.]

**Terra Young**

**SumikotheGREAT: **[Thank you for your feedback. I will probably rewrite that point to incorporate it in some time in the future if I find time.]

**CreativeChica39**

**Saya . Hikari . Uchiha**

**DemonOfTheRain666**

~[Gonna GitchaGitchaGitcha] Tai.


	3. Odd Formalities

**Obvious**

Chapter 3: Odd Formalities

* * *

"Mmm..."

"Is she awake momma?"

"Shh, Hira. You might disturb her."

"Come on, momma!"

"Hiro, stop that!"

I groaned lightly as I began to sit up. I set my palm onto my forehead and slowly moved my eyelids, trying to focus in on the blurry figure in front of me. Once I focused into it I saw the face of a little girl. She had large hazel eyes and choppy brown hair. I jumped back from how close she was and bumped my head onto a board.

I gripped my head as a woman yelled,"Hira- get away from her!"

"Sorry, momma."

"I am so sorry about her."

I opened my eyes again to see a middle aged woman. She had long brown hair with a green hat. She wore simple Earth Kingdom clothing and smiled to me.

"Oh, no, it's fine." I responded, smiling lightly.

She grabbed a small bowl and turned to me,"You've been out for quite a while. Hiro found you out in a field at just the beginning of this week on the Winter Solstice. I figured that you would like some food and water when you woke up."

I nodded to the kind woman,"My name is Rinza."

After I took the bowl from her she remembered something,"Oh, of course. Welcome Rinza, my name is Bei."

I sipped some of the soup and nodded to her,"Thank you for everything, Bei."

She waved a hand,"Oh, it's nothing. It's the least I can do. I don't see many foreign faces around here since the Fire Nation Army moved in."

I paused for a moment, sipping some water. I looked to my wrists to see bandages, most likely covering the raw skin from the escape I made out of that ship's prison. I didn't see any other bandages, but I figure that something had happened to me. I decided to ask where there was a place I could bathe seeing as I hadn't in what would now be five days,"Um, Bei."

"Yes?"

"Would you know where I could bathe?"

She nodded,"I should have known that you would want to do that. There's a river nearby."

"I wanna show her!"

I looked down the see a little boy with wild brown hair and hazel eyes, this must've been Hiro.

"I wanna go too!"

I saw the little girl from before hop next to her brother.

Bei laughed,"You two can show her where the river is, but let her have some privacy."

I smiled and slowly moved off of the bed, ready to get used to walking again.

"So, where's this river?"

* * *

I laughed as the twins showed me the way. They were quite the pair. They were funny to watch. It made my mind begin to wander to my childhood, but I pushed it back as we came up to a river.

"This is it!" Hiro yelled, pointing to it.

I smiled and walked to it, noticing a dam. I walked over to the edge, adjusting the pack on my shoulder, and saw the long trek that I hadn't noticed we had made.

"That's the dam, they built it to stop water from flooding the town!" Hira yelled happily.

I smiled down at her and looked back over the edge. I spotted a few barrels. I pointed down to them,"What are those?"

Hiro popped up next to me,"I dunno! I've never seen them before!"

I looked at them for a moment, not understanding. I than decided to drop a rock down. Once I did I saw the barrel slightly open. On the inside was this purple substance. I gasped as the fumes reached my nostrils. Blasting Jelly.

I turned to Hiro and Hira,"We need to get back to town."

"Why?"

"Those barrels are going to destroy the dam."

* * *

"You have to believe me!"

As the three of us ran back into town I spotted Sokka yelling to the people of the town[1]. Hiro and Hira ran to Bei, yelling about it. I walked up beside Sokka and looked up to the officials,"It's true, someone is going to blow up the dam, we need to get everyone out of town."

The man in front of me thought for a moment before sighing and waving a hand to everyone,"C'mon, let's get moving out of the town!"

"Hey, Rinza, right?"

I looked to my right as I walked out of town, Sokka walking next to me. I noticed that his ice blue eyes were staring right into my dark golden ones.

"Yea, you're Sokka?"

He nodded as we continud to lead everyone away from the village. When we stopped at the top of a hill a giant bison thing with six legs flew up to us. It groaned and looked to Sokka.

"So, what's that?"

"It's a flying bison."

I bit my lip, thinking if I should ask. It would be better if I had backup since Azolin was after me. I looked into Sokka's eyes and put my hand onto his arm,"Is it cool if I tag along?"

His face flushed down and he looked around,"Uh, yea- come on."

I smiled and climbed onto the saddle thing. Sokka took the reigns and looked back to me,"Hold on."

I nodded and we took off. I smiled and put a hand on my bandana, watching everything go by. We "stalled" near a cliff and Sokka began to speak,"No need. We evacuated the city before anything could happen. Sure it took some convincing, but it worked."

"See Jet? All of those people we're saved. You're a horrible person. We're going."

I scooted to the back of the saddle as the water tribe girl stepped on along with the Avatar. I kept my gaze away from her, this could end badly.

Once I felt the air beat onto my face for a bit I heard the Avatar ask Sokka a question,"What did you mean by 'we' back there, Sokka?"

"Well, Aang, Rinza came and helped me."

"Rinza?"

I waved my hand a bit,"Hi, you guys don't mind if I tag along do you?"

Aang looked to me and scooted over, sticking out his hand,"I'm Aang!"

I shook it, nodding,"The Avatar."

"My name is Katara, I'm Sokka's sister."

I glanced to the Waterbender quickly before looking back down, bowing to her in respect[2]. I know, it's odd that I didn't bow to the Avatar. Two reasons for that. One, waterbenders scare the living bajeepers out of me. Two, Aang offered to shake my hand- that works.

In my bow I placed my left fist under my right open palm[3]. Aang looked to my hands,"I've never seen that before."

I looked up quickly and dropped my hands,"Oh, hahaha. It's a sign of thanks where I come from."

"Oh, cool."

Well, there goes lie one. Hopefully I can shoot these things out like breathing one day.

"Sokka, the North Pole's the other way." Katara stated to her brother. He smacked his forehead and turned the flying bison around.

I looked down to the town as we passed it by again. I crinkled my nose up in disgust with myself, I never got to take my bath.

* * *

I realize now that the fire nation guy did not recognize Rinza- but eh. Let's act like he's a new guy .

[1] Poor Sokka- can't get a good point across :3

[2] Fear of waterbenders- remember?

[3] This is the way to bow in the Fire Nation.

Thank you to:

**ZzBlack NightzZ**: Hahaha. I editted over ones of Katara and Yue- which was forever because they all have darker skin DX. Azolin was taken from Sokka in the third season :3. It's not as suspenseful in my opinion- I have yet to decide if this point will pop up later in the plot or not :D. [BTW. Hope Snuggi's gonna do alright.]

**Terra Young**

**SumikotheGREAT**

**CreativeChica39**

**Saya . Hikari . Uchiha**

**DemonOfTheRain666**: Thank you. Yess, I luvz teh drahma. :3

**stabbythings**: Danke!

**chaosking13**

**Izzie-94**

**FedoraLover23**

**Crazy-Little-Doll**: Why thank you. I hope that this story actually does continue on, haha.

**Narcoleptic-Since-89**

**maddy555**

~[Le Tired] Tai. :P


	4. Human Divide

**Obvious**

Chapter 4: Human Divide

* * *

I coughed lightly from my humming as I glanced around, a bit worried since it wasn't too long ago that I had even gotten away from my brother. I decided to ignore any suspicions and filled the jugs we had with water. I turned and began to hurry back, hearing the water in the jugs shifting as I jogged. The sun was setting hear in the Earth Kingdom and it was quite beautiful.

"I got the water gu-"

"-All? Queen of the Twigs!"

I stopped immeaditely to see Aang also staring at the bickering siblings. Katara looked completely offended as she whipped around to face Sokka,"Well you're Mister Lazy Bum, King of the... Tents!"

Her lame line was followed by twigs hitting her brother's head. He glared at her and Aang tried to do his Avatar thing.

"Okay, listen guys. Harsh words won't solve problems, action will. Why don't you just switch jobs?"

"Sounds good."

"Whatever."

"You see that? Settling feuds and making peace. All in a days work for the Avatar."

I laughed lightly as I finished putting the water down. I waltzed over to Aang and bowed dramatically,"Thank you oh great one, but it seems that your work is unfinished."

He laughed and snatched the melon that Momo was taking off with. I turned from him and traveled over to Sokka, who was now taking care of the fire. I bent down his shoulder to see how he was doing. He had his tongue out in slight frustration as he tried to light the twigs.

"How's the fire coming along?"

"Waugh!" Sokka shouted, obviously startled. He looked over to me with a slightly pink face as I sat next to him,"Rinza! Oh, well, this stupid thing is being difficult."

I smirked and put my hand out,"Can I see the rocks?"

He handed them to me and I tossed a handful of dry leaves on top of the set up twigs. Bending over the fire I struck the stones onto eachother and used my firebending powers to create a good enough spark. Sokka looked at the new fire with wide eyes.

"H-How?"

I snickered and handed him the rocks,"Practice. Hey, why's Katara putting up the tarp?"

Sokka groaned,"No idea why, not like it's gonna rain."

I looked at the sky,"Yea, you're probably right... But I don't like getting rained on- even a light sprinkling."

Sokka rose an eyebrow at me, about to make a corny remark. Before he could I pinched one of his cheeks,"Aww, you look so cute with one eyebrow up like that."

His mind went blank from the comments set up to attack me as his face flamed up. I stood up and quickly walked off to Aang to see what we were gonna eat for dinner.

* * *

I stared over the Canyon in front of us. It was interesting. I mean- it wasn't my thing, but it was pretty cool looking.

"Here it is, guys, the Great Divide."

I contemplated on what Aang said. His words kind of boggled my mind. Guys? What a general term. Why not-

"Wow! I could just stare at it forever!"

I jumped and blanked on the next minute of my life, sort of struck out by Katara's voice in my ear. It's not like it was screechy or something, just shocking.

"Calm down, we know you're next."

I looked to Sokka,"Next for what?"

"This guy is saving his clan's spot to cross the canyon with the guide."

"Oooh, well, where's the rest of 'im?"

Sokka shrugged. I followed suit and pulled up my wrench- which had previously been sitting in my pack- spinning it in my hand as I noticed a large crowd of people walking towards us. They adorned Browns and a few muddy reds- looking messier than the boy clad in white.

"Is that your tribe?" Katara asked, obviously not making a clothing connection.

"It most certainly is NOT. That's the Zhang tribe. A bunch of low-life thieves. They've been the enemies of my tribe for a 100 years." He whistled to get the attention of the nearing group,"Hey Zhangs! I'm savin' a spot for my tribe so don't even THINK of stealing it!"

"Where are the other Gan Jin? Still tiding up their camp?" A larger woman, who I'm guessing was the clan's leader, stepped up to challenge the Scout.

"Yes. But they sent me ahead of them to hold a spot."

"I didn't know the canyon Guide took reservations."

"Heh! Of course you didn't. That's the ignorance I'd expect from a messy Zhang! So unorganized and ill prepared for a journey."

I sighed and leaned against Appa, who groaned loudly at me. I closed my eyes and yawned, remembering the horrible sleep I got the night before. Sokka got cold when he was in midsleep and I gave him my blanket since I've got natural body heat. Apparently that gets sucked away when you somehow spill water on yourself and a gust of wind goes by. I shivered at the cold memory, never again will Sokka take my blanket.

"Rinza. Rinza. Hey, Rinza!"

I opened my eyes to see Aang looking back at me. I jumped from Appa and saw about 40 pairs of eyes looking at me. I would have paled if I wasn't already deathly that way.

"What is it Mr. Avatar, sir?"

Aang motioned to the group of old and sick people from the two clan's in Appa's saddle. Wow, I must've really blanked out.

"Can you make sure that everyone is alright on the other side of the canyon? We're going to travel through the canyon with the two clans."

"What?" Sokka exclaimed. "She's been here for what- three days and she gets to ride Appa instead of walking through some boring canyon?"

The water triber did make a viable point, but hey- hurting feet or comfy Appa ride? I choose Appa.

I nodded,"Righty-o! I'll make sure that they're all safe! Don't fret Sokka," I jumped onto Appa's back,"I'll see you on the other side!"

He groaned loudly and smacked his face. I laughed at how irritated he was.

"See ya on the other side buddy. Yip, yip!"

I held in my initial screech as Appa beelined it for the other side of the canyon. I turned around the see the others, but they seemed to already be a speck on the horizon.

"Man, Appa, you're bookin' it."

He did his wind buffalo noise back at me as we continued our way through the air.

* * *

I yawned as I pitched the last of the four tents the group had. I looked over to bunch sitting, or laying, around the fire. I nearly grimaced, they were all probably gonna talk my ear off about old people things. I shivered at the thought and walked over,"The tents are all pitched under the protection of the rocks so you all can use the tarps as blankets for warmth."

One of the Gan Jins looked up to me. She had been the one that mentioned their differences with the Zhang earlier.

"The tents are positioned so that if it does rain no one will get wet."

She smiled satisfactoratly before asking me a bit snobbishly,"It's getting dark- you may want to get some firewood."

I nodded and moved off, wanting to contain the feeling of strangle the woman.

I thought quietly to myself as I past the clumps of trees. There was a few sticks in my hands, but I still had a lot more to collect. I thought about my family- how I loved them. I missed my mother and father, I wonder where they are right now. My father had been with my brother to save me when the- ugh, Azolin. I growled at the memory of what he had done. The blood and bodies. He knew I would never understand what he was doing. I still don't hold that time in a very good light for him.

Shff. Shff.

I jumped back and stared at the bush that was shaking. I waited for a moment, but nothing rolled out. I quickly picked up a few more twigs and hightailed it out of the forest. I wasn't up for being attacked by something again this week. I jumped out of the brush and tried to make myself not seem highstrung as I set the firewood down into the area in the middle of everyone. I looked around as I tossed some dry leaves onto the sticks. There was two old women laughing with eachother- a Gan Jin and a Zhang.

I struck the rocks together a few times before getting a spark and sitting on the log with the two old women. I stared at them, they were the only ones from the two clans talking to eachother. It was interesting to hear them laugh.

"Hunny, we're old women- that's why."

I had to blink a few times as I looked up to the old woman in white, the Gan Jin,"Hm?"

She laughed,"We're too old to be feuding over something from so long ago. Life seems like it was wasted now that I'm talking with another woman my age. Our lives actually don't seem that different."

I laughed with her, nodding. She had a good point about the whole feud thing. I still didn't understand, but I didn't exactly want to press on the matter since I didn't want a crabby bunch of arguing old people.

* * *

I coughed to myself and pulled the thin blanket over my shoulders closer. For some reason I was worried about being found by Azolin. I never actually thought about what would happen if I was taken in front of Lord Ozai. I would be, well- to put it plainly- burnt to a crisp. Also, now I'm travelling with some people... The Avatar is something that people want to get so both of us are bringing more trouble for the whole group. I'm just asking to be shipped to the Fire Nation in chains.

I stood up and walked towards where the cliff edge was. I squinted my eyes and saw two lights of fire faintly glowing up into the sky. Well, they were about 3/4's of the way. For one day, that's a lot. I smirked to myself.

Shff!

I gasped and shot around, my hands heating up as I got ready to destroy whatever was trying to sneak up on me.

"Ohoho, it's just me."

I calmed myself down and bowed to the elderly Gan Jin. Her name was Kasao and she had been the leader of her clan at one time. She had said that she stepped down when she caught a cold during the wet season two years ago. She looked over the canyon and I followed her eyes.

"Rinza, you are not from the Earth Kingdom, are you?"

"Hmna?"

She nodded, picked up my still warm hands and looked at them,"You are doing a great thing, yes you are." She patted one of my hands,"Don't let simple barriers get in your way."

I rose an eyebrow at the woman. What barriers are we talking about?

* * *

"Anything I can get for you this morning, ma'am?"

The old, slight snobby, Gan Jin from the day before shook her head,"No, but maybe you could pack everything up."

I nodded and got to work on breaking the tents down. I spent most of the night playing with the campfire, not able to sleep easily with the bushes constantly rustling. I folded the tarps and rolled them into their respective string bundles. I wonder when the others will get here.

"Raaugh."

I felt my hair flying around, the warm breath of the Air Bison smacking into my head. I looked to the animal on my right and laughed,"Hey Appa!"

He licked my whole head and I grimaced a bit,"Well, okay. I thouht you didn't like me for a while there." I patted his nose before finishing up with the tent stuff. I was seriously thinking that Appa just knew I was a Firebender. He must have decided that he can trust me and that I won't attack Aang or Katara or Sokka.

"I'm done!" I shouted to the group and sat on one of the logs, tired. The old persons nodded to me, happy that the night was over. I leaned back on my palms and looked up to the sky,"What's taking them so lo-"

Rumble.

I shot up and looked to the cliffside with the others. This giant canyon crawler thing came shooting up with Aang on its back. He jumped,"Everyone! Get off!"

I felt my face fall even more as I watched even more of these things travel up to the this side of the canyon. Everyone jumped off and Aang tossed the food down into the canyon, making the crawler things leave. I slumped my shoulders a bit, gosh- how frightening.

"Rinza, how was your time with the oldies?" Sokka asked, smacking my right shoulder with his hand.

I sighed,"A lot more difficult than I expected. But, I wouldn't have gotten on one of those things even if my life depended on it."

He laughed at me before two loud voices drowned him out.

"Too bad we can't rerwrite history." The Gan Jin leader took out his sword and pointed it to the Zhang leader. "You thieves stole out sacred orb from Jin Wei!"

The woman across from his unsheathed her sword and scowled at the older man,"You tyrants unjustly imprisoned Wei Jin for twenty long years!"

Aang cried out in frustration and grabbed his face, trying to think of an idea. Than he got his Avatar-solver face on and looked up.

"Wait a second! Jin Wei? Wei Jin? I know those guys!"

"Yes, yes, we're all aware of the story."

I wouldn't say all of us were. I never got the whole point of the story.

"No! I mean I really knew them. I may not look it, but I'm 112 years old. I was there a hundred years ago on the day you're talking about."

Man, Aang had some immpecable timing for that one.

"There seems to be a lot of confusion about what happened. First of all, Jin Wei and Wei Jin weren't enemies, they were brothers, twins in fact and they were eight and most importantly, they were just playing a game! The sacred orb from the legend...that was the ball. And the eastern and western gates were the goal posts. Jin Wei had the ball and was running toward the goal when he fell and fumbled it. Win Jei didn't steal the ball, he picked it up and started running it back toward the other goal. But he stepped out of bounds, so the official put him in the penalty box, not for twenty long years, but for two short minutes. There was no stealing and no putting anyone in prison. Just a game."

"You're saying the sacred orb was actually a sacred ball?"

"Nope, just a regular ball."

"What about our tribe's redemption ritual?"

"That's what the game was called, Redemption. As soon as someone got the ball from one goal to the other everyone would yell, "redemption!" Don't get me wrong, Win Jei was kind of a slob and Jin Wei was a little stuffy, that much is true, but they respected each others differences enough to share the same playing field."

I snorted to myself lightly, what an interesting story.

"What was that?"

I smirked to Sokka,"Just thinking about how I could totally beat you in a game like that."

"What? As if!"

"Rinza."

"Hm?"

I stopped arguing with Sokka and looked back to see Kasao,"Ah, Kasao!"

She smiled to me and patted my shoulder,"Don't forget what we talked about child. Now, enjoy your life."

I smiled back to her as she left.

"What was that about?"

"I made a friend."

"With the old lady."

I punched Sokka's upper arm and he slid in pain."Ow!"

I smirked,"See? Redemption!"

"What? That's not how you play!"

I laughed and stucked my tongue out at him,"It's how I play. If you can't deal with it than don't act like you could beat me."

He looked taken aback,"Hey now-!"

"Sokka! Rinza! It's time that we got going!"

I stuck my tongue out at Sokka again as I quickly hurried over to Katara and Aang.

* * *

Let's see. That rustling will continue to be unexplainable :33 BTW= Go Scripts XDDD.

I am revealing some small Rinza-Sokka moments, but for the most part it will roughly be the same storyline + Rinza XD. I know, laaaaame. BUT it will be interesting.

Responses:

Midnight seducer: Thank you a lot!

DemonOfTheRain666: Thank you a lots :D

ZzBlack NightzZ: It is fine. I'll try, hehe.

~ [Ty-] Tai.


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